This might explain why public education
is failing today.....
THURSDAY EDITION: Lunch at HRO today in
Salem, NH....Cracks in
Earth's magnetic field but do not panic.....Everything you
wanted to now about the
coronavirus....Today's asshat from Florida tried to
microwave a
whole package of Oreo's, why?......How long does it
take to get to
the moon?....Are ham clubsdying?.....Not so sure I would want to
date here....
Coronavirus Outbreak Postpones Swains Island W8S DXpedition
The W8S
DXpedition to Swains Island in the Pacific, set
to take place in mid-March, has been postponed until fall as
a result of travel restrictions imposed on individuals
entering American Samoa, stemming from the recent
coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Health allows
non-residents to enter American Samoa only via Hawaii after
a 14-day mandatory quarantine in Hawaii, and the DXpedition
was unable to accommodate that requirement.
“Everything is prepared for our DXpedition, and we are
eager to go, but unfortunately the coronavirus outbreak is
out of our control,” the DXpedition team said in announcing
the delay. “Although this is a disappointment for everyone,
the W8S DXpedition is not cancelled, but just postponed for
later this year.”
The DXpedition said it would alert the DX community as
soon as it has new firm dates for the trip.
These are pix of the monument atop Mt.
Suribachi on Iwo Jima. I took the photos during one of our trips
to replace the flag that was regularly destroyed by the wind up
there. Bob W1GWU
National society acts over Smart Meter interference
IARU Region 2 reports in Saint Kitts amateur radio operators
are still battling with the RF Interference, noise and frequency
jamming caused by the smart meters of the electric company
The Saint Kitts Nevis Anguilla Amateur Radio Society
(SKNAARS) took the RF interference complaint to the
telecommunications regulator NTRC who issued a “cease and
desist” order to the electric company, effective October 7,
2019. Today makes four months since that order was issued, and a
number of stations are still experiencing RF interference and
noise on 40-meter and 80-meter radio frequencies.
The
SKNAARS new executive will be meeting with the NTRC in the next
few weeks to discuss this RF noise issue and other outstanding
matters. SKNAARS wishes to thank IARU for its
assistance in helping to resolve this RF interference matter
affecting the amateur radio fraternity in Saint Kitts. The
island of Nevis does not have a smart meter system.
On April 9, 1990 TV station RTE broadcast a news item
about the Lough Erne Radio Rally in
Northern Ireland
The description reads:
A
rally like this is a chance to put faces to names and to
radio call signs.
600 amateur radio enthusiasts from
all over Ireland have gathered in Enniskillen, county
Fermanagh for the ninth annual Lough Erne Radio Rally.
The rally is an opportunity for many to put faces to
names and radio call signs. Here ‘ham radio’ radio
enthusiasts can swap stories and experiences. The event also
offers the chance to buy radio equipment that is not
normally available in the shops.
Reporter Andrew
Kelly meets enthusiasts Alec McKeown GI1RBI, Phil Cantwell
EI9P and Joe Maguire GI4NRE who share their experiences of
using radio to contact people throughout the world.
A 30-year-old Soviet spy radio has been found by
archaeologists in a site cleared for a new lignite mine
about 30 km west of Köln in Germany
Live Science
reports:
The spy radio was buried inside a large
metal box that was hermetically sealed with a rubber ring
and metal screws. Although the radio's batteries had run
down after almost 30 years in the ground, the box hissed
with inrushing air when it was opened.
The radio has
been identified as a model R-394KM transmitter and receiver
— code-named "Strizh," meaning "Swift" — that was
manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1987. It was carried by
agents into Western Europe shortly after that, and only a
few years before the fall between 1989 and 1991 of the "Iron
Curtain" of communism that divided Eastern and Western
Europe.
The high-frequency or shortwave radio was
capable of transmitting and receiving messages as far as
1,200 km — far enough to reach Warsaw in Poland, which was
then part of the Soviet bloc.
Want to see AMSAT in action or learn
more about amateur radio in space?
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate
communicating through amateur satellites, and host
information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions,
maker faires, and other events.
Current schedule:
+ March 6, 2020, Irving Hamfest, Irving, TX March 14-15,
2020, Science + City on University of Arizona, Tuscon,
AZ March 21, 2020, Midwinter + Madness Hamfest, Buffalo,
MN March 21, 2020, Scottsdale Amateur Radio + Club
Hamfest, Scottsdale, AZ + March 28, 2020, Tucson Spring
Hamfest, Tucson, AZ March 29, 2020, + Vienna Wireless
Winterfest, Annandale, VA May 2, 2020, Cochise Amateur +
Radio Association Hamfest, Sierra Vista, AZ + May 8-9,
2020 Prescott Hamfest, Prescott, AZ May 15-17, Hamvention,
+ Xenia, OH June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Con, Plano, TX
This color brochure is designed to be printed double
WEDNESDAY EDITION: Cold and
overcast on the island this morning but I will take it over
snow...
Iwo Jima: The Marines hit the beach
today in 1944, staggering loss of life for their country.
Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines’ invasion of Iwo Jima,
is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by
Japanese artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime
real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing raids
against Japan, only 660 miles away.
The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense
of the island in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers
raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion
bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which
the Japanese–21,000 strong–fortified the island, above and below
ground, including a network of caves. Underwater demolition
teams (“frogmen”) were dispatched by the Americans just before
the actual invasion. When the Japanese fired on the frogmen,
they gave away many of their “secret” gun positions.
The amphibious landings of Marines began the morning of
February 19 as the secretary of the navy, James Forrestal,
accompanied by journalists, surveyed the scene from a command
ship offshore. As the Marines made their way onto the island,
seven Japanese battalions opened fire on them. By evening, more
than 550 Marines were dead and more than 1,800 were wounded. The
capture of Mount Suribachi, the highest point of the island and
bastion of the Japanese defense, took four more days and many
more casualties. When the American flag was finally raised on
Iwo Jima, the memorable image was captured in a famous
photograph that later won the Pulitzer Prize.
VP8PJ South Orkney Team En Route to Signy Island
The MV Braveheart is at sea again, this time
transporting the VP8PJ South Orkney DXpedition team
to Signy Island.
Track the vessel’s progress on the VP8PJ
website. The Perseverance DX Group is sponsoring the
DXpedition. Team members have been operating as ZL1NA/mm
during their voyage, generating heavy pileups.
VP8PJ is expected to commence operation on February 21
and continue until March 5. Operation will be on CW, SSB,
RTTY, and FT8 (always fox/hound mode except on 60 meters).
Stations in Africa and Oceania may call at any time,
regardless of operators’ directional instructions.
The VP8PJ DXpedition is the recipient of an ARRL Colvin
Award grant, funded by an endowment established by Lloyd D.
Colvin, W6KG (SK). Heading the 14-member DXpedition team are
Dave Lloyd, K3EL, and Les Kalmus, W2LK.
South Orkney Islands is the 16th most-wanted DXCC
entity, according to Club Log.
The DXpedition offers several tips to help operators to
work VP8PJ. These note, among other things, that the team
will not have email access, nor do the DXpedition pilots
have access to the logs. The DXpedition team advises that
operators wait until propagation and conditions favor their
location. VP8PJ will always operate split, and the operator
will indicate where he is listening, such as “up 5” or
“listening on 7155.” Be patient, use common phonetics on
SSB, and listen for your call sign when VP8PJ comes back.
Also, heed the operators’ instructions, such as “EU only” or
“QRP only.” Resist making “insurance QSOs,” only working the
DXpedition again if a log check shows that you are not in
the log. Log check will not be available until shortly after
the DXpedition begins operation. Whenever possible, VP8PJ
operators will try to listen in the General-class portions
of the bands.
QSL via OQRS for direct or bureau, or
direct via QSL Manager Tim Beaumont, M0URX;
log search will also be available.
Down Under Special Event Will Use Former Radio Australia
Antennas
Over the March 14 – 15 weekend, members of the
Shepparton and District Amateur Radio Club (SADARC)
in Australia will be on the air as VI3RA (Radio Australia),
connecting their transceivers to the curtain array and
rhombic antennas at the former Radio Australia site in
Shepparton. Radio Australia ceased transmitting from the
site in 2017. VI3RA will operate on 40, 30, 20, 17, and 15
meters.
“Local amateurs will be given the unique
opportunity to explore the use of high-gain antennas whilst
giving amateurs throughout the world a unique opportunity to
contact a station using such high-gain antennas,” said
SADARC President Peter Rentsch, VK3FPSR (Australia’s call
sign structure accommodates four-letter suffixes). “This is
a rare opportunity for amateur radio operators, who are only
allowed a peak output power of 400 W in Australia when
compared to 100 kW of Radio Australia transmitters to
hopefully achieve some remarkable communication outcomes. We
expect to get a gain of 15 dB on the lower frequencies and
at least 20 dB on 21 MHz.”
The special event is being conducted in cooperation
with BAI Communications (Broadcast Australia). More
information is on the club’s website.
AMSAT Declares End of Mission for Pioneer AO-85 CubeSat
AMSAT reports that the pioneering AMSAT-OSCAR 85 (AO-85)
CubeSat, also known as Fox-1A, has gone silent.
“Having not been heard throughout the most recent period
of full illumination, it is reasonable to believe the
batteries have deteriorated to the point of no longer being
able to power the transmitter,” AMSAT said this week.
“Should some future event cause a cell to open, it is
possible the satellite may be heard again, but for now, it
is time to declare end-of-mission.
AO-85 was conceived as the first AMSAT CubeSat and
designed to be a successor to the popular AO-51 Microsat.
AO-85 was launched on October 8, 2015. Its success led to
further Fox satellites AO-91, AO-92, AO-95, and RadFxSat2 /
Fox-1E, which will be launched later this year.
The Fox-1E transponder was also spun off into a radio
system now in orbit on board HuskySat-1, and soon to be in
several other university CubeSats. — Thanks to AMSAT
News Service
British radio antenna arrives at space station
The UK's first industrial contribution to the International
Space Station (ISS) was delivered on Tuesday.
The communications antenna is part of a consignment of
supplies that arrived on a Cygnus freighter.
Made by MDA UK, the Columbus Ka-band (COLKa)
Terminal will enable astronauts to connect with scientists and
family on Earth at home broadband speeds.
The equipment will be fixed to the exterior of Europe's ISS
science module in a few weeks' time. This should improve
substantially on current arrangements for radio links.
"At the moment, the communications from Columbus go through
the American data relay satellites, but those satellites are
prioritised for US use. This gives Europe some independence,"
David Kenyon, the managing director of
Oxfordshire-based MDA UK, told BBC News.
Sarah Rogers KI7OOY reports that following
the successful launch of NG-13 on Feb 15, the upcoming CubeSat
deployment from the ISS is now scheduled for Wednesday, February
19
This deployment times and frequencies for the
CubeSats being deployed on this date are listed in the table
below.
As a member of the Phoenix CubeSat team, it would
help us greatly to have as much help as possible with tracking
our spacecraft following deployment!
Cheers, Sarah Rogers KI7OOY Project Manager, Phoenix CubeSat
Students allowed to use amateur radio
Austrian national amateur radio society ÖVSV reports the
Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology granted
Martin Rafenstein OE3RQA an exception to
enable students to use amateur radio
A translation
of the ÖVSV post reads:
Under supervision and guidance of experienced radio
amateurs, pupils of the fourth year of the higher technical
college for electronics and technical informatics of the
Technological Museum of Technology (TGM) Vienna XX were able
to gain their first experience in the field of amateur radio
on Friday, January 17th, 2020.
For this purpose, the teachers had invited a guest
lecturer from the Austrian Experimental Broadcasting
Association, Martin Rafenstein (OE3RQA).
In addition
to his experience and expertise, he also brought a lot of
amateur radio devices with him as illustrative material.
After a general introduction to the topic, the students
were then shown and demonstrated selected amateur radio
components (radio devices, antennas, cables, measuring
devices). With the simplest of means, a short-wave antenna
(homemade) (so-called "Bazooka") was then hung up in the
laboratory to give the students a clearer understanding of
the experimental character of this hobby.
The
highlight of this afternoon, however, was undoubtedly that,
in the course of a certificate of exemption granted by the
Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology - so-called
"speech freedom" - under the amateur radio call
OE20TGM that had been set up especially for this
afternoon, pupils were even able to talk to any amateur
radio operator.
Under the supervision of the
authorized persons, extremely nice radio conversations with
several radio amateurs from Vienna and Lower Austria came
about.
Some of the remote stations were themselves
graduates of the TGM and were pleased about the direct
conversation with technically interested young people who
came into contact with the medium of amateur radio for the
first time.
The event ended with a demonstration of
voice and data connections between the Internet and amateur
radio.
Here the students got an impression that the
classic, traditional "analog" radio world has long since
grown together with the digital world that you seem more
familiar with.
TUESDAY EDITION: You never know
who will check in to 3928 afternoons, but I never expected a
card carrying, official number bearing Friendly Bunch cult
member would actually check in with us yesterday. He drank the
Kool-Aid and got sucked in 100%. I guess he hasn't noticed that
the self proclaimed "fastest growing group in ham radio" is
bailing out in large numbers to 3843 where everyone is number #1
and no one is butting in all night long commanding you to
ID.........The scout leaders couldnt keep their zippers shut and
file
bankruptcy...oh no, a tattoo in morse code
spelled wrong.....Mysterious singals from
outerspace....
Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) in Thailand
The
1st YOTA event in IARU Region 3
(Asia/Pacific) will take place in Rayong, Thailand on
October 1-3, 2020
The Radio Amateur Society of
Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the King (RAST)
will be hosting the IARU Region 3 Youngsters on the
Air (YOTA) Camp in Rayong Province on the
southeastern coast of Thailand from October 1-3 this year.
This was agreed in September 2019 by the IARU Region 3
Chairman Wisnu Widjaja, YB0AZ, and IARU Region 3 directors
which include RAST President Jakkree Hantongkom, HS1FVL.
YOTA is a rapidly growing group of young radio amateurs
which has the goal of getting more young people interested
in amateur radio and in growing the amateur radio community.
Every year many youngsters meet up in a different IARU
Region 3 country for the exchange of ideas and experiences.
This year the event will be held at the Rock Garden
Beach Resort in Rayong.
ABC TV News report on fears in Toledo, Ohio, that the
installation new LED street lights will generate
considerable RF pollution and interference
"The
Universe is full of noise," Mike Kehr WA8SYD,
an instructor for amateur radio licensing, said. "When you
turn the radio on and hear that it has sound and there's no
signal there, that's the noise of the universe."
The
noise that the amateur radio community is concerned about is
LED lights.
Kehr says the lights make a lot of
electrical radio noise and, "that noise can rise to the
level of actual interference."
Daily Echo newspaper reports radio amateur Brian
Summers G8GQS saved one of the BBC's historic outside
broadcast units, MCR21, from the scrap heap
The
newspaper says:
MCR21 - its serial
number – was one of the first custom built outside broadcast
vehicles originally designed for black and white television.
From 1963 it relayed to mass TV audiences many prestigious
events ranging from Winston Churchill's funeral to England's
World Cup victory.
It was later converted to colour
before being scrapped by the BBC in 1979 and this proud chapter
of broadcasting history was nearly lost to the nation until
radio amateur enthusiast Brian Summers stepped in and bought the
vehicle which was in danger of rusting away.
What do you do if modern communications go down?
Phones, computers? No calling, texting, emailing?
The astronauts on the International Space Station know. And
so do the students in Jody Carter’s amateur radio class, the
Rambler Radio Club, at LaFayette Middle School. It’ called ham
radio (aka, amateur radio).
“Electronic communications,” says Carter, “depend on a
massive infrastructure. When one part fails, the whole thing can
go down.
“Ham radio depends only on antennas and two people
communicating,” Carter says. “The radio spectrum includes
millions of frequencies. Messages can be relayed from one person
to another to another.”
It doesn’t have to be a case of communications actually
failing. Carter gives an example from the 2011 tornadoes that
swept through our area. High winds, he says, took down multiple
trees on both sides of a 1.25 mile stretch of road in Walker
County.
It took emergency workers and volunteers 36 hours to clear
enough debris to get a vehicle through. In the meantime, there
just happened to be a ham radio operator at each end of the
road. They were able to communicate with one another as each
made his way toward the middle, stopping at every house to check
on people.
What neither they nor the people living on the stretch of
road could do is get through to 911 because there was a backlog
of 300 calls on hold.
“If our emergency ham network,” says Carter, “could have
easily notified authorities that everyone was OK, the dozens of
workers spending all that time clearing the road could have been
helping where it was more needed.”
A good example of ham radio helping in an emergency situation
was when more than 1,000 amateur radio operators came to the
rescue during Hurricane Katrina.
Many countries with remote villages employ ham radio for
communications.
Not one to just talk about it, Carter is now emergency
coordinator of amateur radio services in Walker County, as well
as a leader with the Walker County Community Emergency Response
Team.
A ham radio is maintained on the international space station,
230 miles above the earth. Not only is it a good emergency
backup, people on earth can communicate with the astronauts.
That’s what the Rambler Radio Club students did in 2012. They
planned the exchange in advance. They invited younger students
from Naomi, North LaFayette, Gilbert and Rock Spring Elementary
schools to come up with 20 questions to ask the astronauts.
The questions were submitted to NASA so the astronauts could
be prepared. There was equipment to borrow, especially a
high-powered antenna that had to be secured on top of the
school.
Ham radio enthusiast and friend of Carter, Dave Mayo, says,
“In order to make contact with an orbiting satellite like the
space station requires a highly directional antenna that is
capable of moving in the azimuth plane (horizontal) as well as
elevation (vertical).
“So we had to borrow such an antenna, which is fairly large
and has a lot of wiring required for the rotors, as well as for
the transmission line, and mount it on the roof of the
auditorium,” Mayo says. “Being rather large and tall we had to
weigh down the tripod base with five gallon buckets filled with
water so that it wouldn’t topple over. Even that did not quite
seem to fully stabilize it so we also added some Dacron ropes to
guy it.”
In spite of all that, Mayo says the antenna got tangled in a
guy rope.
“Fortunately,” he says, “we had a guy stationed on the roof
who cut the rope before it could cause any damage or problems.”
Carter and his students and most of the school’s student body
gathered in the gymnasium of their school on Sept. 21, 2012,
prepared for a conversation with the space station. The
experience took Carter back to his childhood when he was late
for school one day because his father was trying to contact the
Space Shuttle by way of ham radio.
LMS had received a grant for the project. They were one of 18
schools in the world, four schools in the United States, to get
to contact ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station — in 2012.
The connection was scratchy but understandable. Some
questions the students asked included: What time zone does the
space station use? What fuels does the station use? How does
life on earth differ from life in space? How do you exercise in
space?
When all was said and done, Carter told students that in the
10 minutes they had been talking to the astronauts, the space
station had moved out of range. He said the station travels from
Dallas, Texas, to Paris, France, in a mere 17 minutes.
Amateur radio has an annual contest called Round Up. Students
work to make as many contacts with other ham radio operators as
possible. Carter says his students are so enthusiastic about the
contest they’ll spend their lunch hour and many more hours a day
pursuing contacts from all over the world.
As of October 2019, Rambler Radio Club members had contacted
people in 37 U.S. states, in Tasmania, Germany, Italy, Morocco
and many more places. They’ve contacted people on beaches, at
home and on a ship passing through the Panama Canal.
By the end of one week of Round Up, Carter said, “I could not
be prouder of our students who have set a new record of contacts
for any week of School Club Roundup for Rambler Radio Club.
These students are becoming more independent, confident and
competent in their radio communication skills. And of all the 13
students on the air this week, 12 were female!”
Twelve were female last school year. This year it’s 16 of 18
students, a lot more than the 15% of amateur U.S. radio
operators who are female.
MONDAY EDITION: President's
Day, do you think I can find one kid who has any idea what the
holiday means? ....Thursday is a lunch bunch meeting at HRO in
Salem, NH, open to all......
Exclusive Photo of Mike- XW's new RC car
and retirement gym in the backyard...
Why Marconi's genius was on a different wavelength
The Daily Gazette reports this June will mark exactly
100 years since the world’s first public broadcast took
place in Chelmsford, Essex
The newspaper says:
It was June 15, 1920, when Australian opera star Dame Nellie
Melba sung down a microphone at the Marconi works in New Street.
She belted out two arias in her famous trill. By the time of her
second broadcast a few days later, the great diva’s warbles were
being listened to across Britain, and as far away as New York.
Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo
Marconi was used to being a leader in his field.
In December 1901 he had succeeded in sending the first radio
transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving detractors
who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit
transmission to 200 miles or less.
Radio Acacia to broadcast interview of two Indian hams
Radio Acacia from Nottinghamshire, England
is going to broadcast an nterview of two Indian Hams
VU2EXP Rajesh Vagadia and VU3WHG Shyama Vagadia
for sharing their valuable experience on Amateur Radio Emergency
Communication service extended during VAYU Cyclone (June 2019)
at coast of Porbandar (Gujarat) India.
Shyama Vagadia VU3WHG
Numbers of aspects like Cyclone info, Emergency Communication
Preparedness, Teamwork, Radio Operations, Reporting, Supporters
credit, Coordination with Radio clubs/organisation & govt
Department, etc are covered in details.
VU2EXP remain active Ham from Rajkot engaged in ham
radio promotional activities. Whereas YL Shyama VU3WHG is just
student of 10th grade (Saint Paul School Rajkot) and remain
youngest female Ham of State of Gujarat!
Interview is scheduled to broadcast on coming Tuesday 18th
Feb 2020 at 1930 IST (1400 GMT) and will repeat on Thursday 20th
Feb 2020 at 1930 IST (1400 GMT). Interview on Acacia Radio is
part of Backtracks programme, presented by Brian Ford.
Kindly spare time & listen our Interview on 'Radio Acacia'
(UK) at 1287 AM or via live streaming over Internet Radio as per
schedule mentioned at following link:
http://radio.canstream.co.uk:8033/live.mp3
TAPR PSR 144 now available
TAPR have made issue 144 of their newsletter PSR
available for download
TAPR is a community that provides
leadership and resources to radio amateurs for the purpose of
advancing the radio art.
The Winter 2020 issue of TAPR
Packet Status Register (PSR #144) contains: -President's
Corner -TAPR.ORG
– The Next Generation -TAPR Members to Attend 2020 HamSCI
Workshop -On the Air with YT7MPB -Donate to TAPR -DCC
Wrap-Up -AX.25 + FEC = FX.25 TAPR Wear Available
-Automatic Tuner for Small Magnetic Loop Antennas -On the Net
The Fine Print -Our Membership App
The PSR editor is now
accepting contributions for the next issue of PSR. April 1,
2020, is the deadline for submissions; send what you have to
wa1lou <AT> tapr.org
The FCC has invited comments on a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making
(NPRM) in WT Docket 19-138, which said the FCC would take ''a
fresh and comprehensive look'' at the rules for the 5.9 GHz
band. The FCC proposes to make 5.850 - 5.895 GHz available for
unlicensed operations and to authorize transportation-related
communication technologies to use 5.895 - 5.925 GHz.
The FCC is not proposing to delete or otherwise amend the
5-centimeter secondary amateur radio allocation at 5.650 - 5.925
GHz, part of which includes the 75 Megahertz under
consideration.
Comments are due by March 6, and reply comments are due by
April 6.
ARRL will be filing comments supporting no change to 5.850 -
5.925 GHz for amateurs, as included in the FCC proposal.
LATE WEEKEND EDITION: I have
not had a chance to get the weekend edition out on time, I went
to a local hamfest in Marlboro for a change of pace. I had the
pleasure of setting up with Joe- K1JEK of Cobra Antenna and I
sold a few items and talked to a few hams, a nice time was had
by all and a strong turnout for sure.....I don't have to tell
you the ARRL is closed on President's Day, they take every
holiday off.....What's wrong with
education today?.....
Foundations of Amateur Radio
Exploring an understanding of filters and circuits.
Every person is the product of their environment.
Unsurprisingly this is even true for radio amateurs. That's not
to say that we can't break our mould, but it takes effort. I
grew up around technology in the 1980's. As a result I'm
familiar with 8-bit microprocessors like the Motorola 6502 which
featured heavily at the time. I tend to think in terms of the
presence or absence of a signal, rather than the intricacies of
circuits and components.
As a child of my time, I'm not particularly familiar with the
punch card or paper tape, or core memory, or valves, 386 machine
code or what's in an FPGA. As a direct result of my age, my
knowledge and understanding of circuits is sparse at best. I
understand basic components like resisters and capacitors in a
DC setting, Ohms Law and the fun you can have with a battery, a
few resistors, diodes and an LED light.
As a radio amateur I've been introduced to how some things
work differently in an AC circuit, like an antenna and a
feed-line.
Until very recently my knowledge about filters was based on
what I'd read. I know that there is fun to be had with coax and
stubs and other cute things, but how and why they work eluded
me. Today I'm a step closer.
Before I dig in and share some of what I've learnt, let's
have a quick look at what a filter is and does. You'll have
likely heard of high-pass and low-pass filters. You might have
heard of band-pass and band-stop filters.
If you think of a high-pass filter as a device that lets
through high frequencies and a low-pass filter as a device that
lets through low frequencies, we're already well on our way. If
you put a high-pass filter together with a low-pass filter, you
end up with a range of frequencies that doesn't pass, known as a
band-stop filter.
Similarly, if you tweak the frequencies that pass just so,
you can combine a high-pass and a low-pass filter to make a
band-pass filter.
Let me illustrate.
Imagine a 15m band-pass filter. It allows all frequencies in
the 15m amateur band through, but blocks everything else. You
could construct such a thing from a high-pass filter that allows
15m and above through combined with a low-pass filter that
allows 15m and below through. Everything below 15m is stopped by
the high-pass filter and everything above 15m is stopped by the
low-pass filter. The gap between the overlap of the high-pass
and low-pass filters is what creates a space where the 15m band
gets through.
If you move things around a little, the same can be
constructed to make a 15m band-stop filter. Something that lets
anything through, except a 15m amateur signal. To make such a
gadget would require a low-pass filter that allows everything
below 15m combined with a high-pass filter that lets everything
above 15m through.
So, if you can construct a high-pass filter and a low-pass
filter, you can pretty much create any combination and allow or
stop specific frequency ranges.
If you're wondering why this might be useful, think about a
contest. Two radios in the same shack. One transmitting on 15m
and one on 40m. These two bands, one at 21 MHz and one at 7 MHz
are third harmonics to each other. This means essentially that a
radio on 40m affects one on 15m and vice-versa. If you had a set
of filters that stopped 15m and passed 40m on one transceiver
and a set of filters that stopped 40m and passed 15m on the
other, both of you would be much happier.
You don't need to do contesting to benefit from a filter. If
you use an RTL-SDR dongle, it's affected by nearby strong
signals, like say a local radio or television station. That's
fine if that's what you're trying to hear, but not so much if
you're trying to hear something else. Filters can help to make
your life better.
Now, to round this off at a suitable point, you can think of
an inductor as device that lets low frequencies through but
blocks high frequencies. Similarly, a capacitor is a device that
blocks low frequencies but lets high frequencies through. So,
it's fair to think of an inductor as a low-pass filter and a
capacitor as a high-pass filter. The symbol for a capacitor is
the letter C (Charlie) and for an inductor it's the letter L
(Lima).
You could make a circuit that either directly blocks from a
certain frequency, or one that lets it through, but sends it to
ground. This gives you two designs for a low pass filter one
using an inductor or an RL circuit and one using a capacitor or
an RC circuit. Similarly you can create a high-pass filter using
either an inductor or a capacitor. That gives you four designs
for two filters.
Each of these can be combined to create band-pass and
band-stop filters.
The maths behind it isn't particularly daunting with basic
high-school maths and if you want to see it happen before your
eyes, check out the "Organic Chemistry Tutor" on YouTube. The
play list you're looking for is cleverly disguised as
"Electronic Circuits".
As a direct result, I started hunting for breadboards, but it
turns out that you can simulate these circuits online using any
number of simulators. Of course there's going to be a gap
between simulation and reality, but that's when you get out your
soldering iron.
Remember, if you smell chicken, you're holding it wrong.
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
UK 5 MHz beacon to close
It has been announced that the 5 MHz (60m) beacon
GB3WES at Westmorland IO84qn on 5.290 MHz will close
down on March 11, 2020, when its Notice of Variation (NoV)
expires
The beacon entered service on October 30, 2004.
At the time it was one of a chain of three UK 5 MHz propagation
research beacons, the others being GB3RAL in Oxfordshire and
GB3ORK in Orkney
George, Tommy and Wayne make nice finds at the Capital City
Hamfest. Krewe of Eve Mardi Gras Ball and a tasty treat. Icom
IC-705 Quick Preview. New portable QRP antennas. Plus lots more.
1:20:57
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report 2207 for Friday February 14th 2020
NEW QUESTIONS RAISED OVER TESTING FOR RF EXPOSURE
PAUL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with a story about wireless
safety. The FCC requires all wireless devices sold in the U.S.,
including ham radio equipment, to demonstrate that even at
maximum power, their RF exposure is below the minimum allowable
level of Specific Absorption Rate or SAR, for safety. A recent
test of mobile phones' RF levels, however, has raised doubts
about the testing process itself. Kent Peterson KC0DGY has that
story.
KENT: In an investigation conducted last year
by RF Exposure Labs for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, a number
of phones from Apple, Samsung, and Motorola were discovered to
exceed the the FCC's SAR limit. A subsequent investigation done
by the FCC, however, failed to corroberate those findings. The
lab used phones purchased from retailers; the FCC received its
phones directly from the manufacturers themselves.
More recently, a test by the lab for Penumbra Brands - which
sells mobile-phone protection devices - found an iPhone 11 Pro
also exceeded the allowable levels. That test drew its
conclusions based on the study of a single phone that had been
purchased at retail.
The IEE Spectrum reported on these
developments on its website on February 7th. None of the phones'
manufacturers were reached for comment.
A University of
California Berkeley researcher told the IEEE however that
regardless of whose findings end up being valid, the real fix
needs to be made at the FCC. Researcher Joel Moskowitz said the
agency's testing for RF exposure needs to be made more
comprehensive -- and brought into the 21st century.
**
HAMS IN INDIA FIELD-TEST FLOOD, CYCLONE READINESS
PAUL/ANCHOR: With tropical cyclones and floods an ever-present
threat in the Indian state of Odisha, amateur radio operators
there have a special commitment to readiness. John Williams
VK4JJW tells us what's on their agenda next.
JOHN:
Chilika Lake Sea Mouth Island in Odisha is usually uninhabited
but from the 14th to the 16th of February it will be occupied by
a small group of amateur radio operators on a mission. The
Amateur Radio Society of Odisha is conducting its second annual
field day in a cyclone- and flooding-preparedness exercise.
Using battery packs and solar panels and working in tents, the
hams are calling QRZ on 40, 20 and 10 meters, simulating a
post-disaster scenario. Gurudatta Panda VU3GDP told Newsline in
an email that this kind of preparedness proved invaluable when
Cyclone Fani struck in 2019. He said that coincidentally, the
storm made landfall last spring near the field day location
barely a month after the field day exercise had concluded.
The location is ideal for such an exercise, he said. It
provides a noise-free environment along with the adventure of
operating on the shore of one of the Asia's largest brackish
water lakes where it meets the sea.
All contacts will
receive QSL cards. For more details visit the society's website
arso dot org dot in (arso.org.in)
For Amateur Radio
Newsline I'm John Williams VK4JJW.
PAUL/ANCHOR: To see a
video of last year's field day and get a look at the beauty of
the activation site, see the printed version of this newscast on
our website arnewsline.org, where we have added a link to the
YouTube video.
** THAILAND PREPS FOR YOUNG AMATEURS'
RADIO CAMP
PAUL/ANCHOR: Radio camp season is coming up
fast - and in Thailand, preparations are under way. Jason
Daniels VK2LAW has those details.
JASON: The Radio
Amateur Society of Thailand is preparing to host a Youngsters On
The Air camp in Rayong Province on Thailand's southeastern
coast. The popular, fast-growing YOTA experience will be open to
youth throughout the region from October 1st to the 3rd at the
Rock Garden Beach in Rayong. Hosting the Region 3 camp is the
latest effort by the Thai radio society to encourage young
students to pursue their interest in ham radio.
RAST,
which was selected as host during meetings last year, hopes to
support young students' education and give them skills to
prepare them for licence exams and to upgrade whatever licence
they may have. The IARU's YOTA Region 3 website reaffirms its
commitment to young hams saying: [quote] "Youngsters on the Air
is a highly motivated group of people of all ages and from all
over the world working together tightly to make sure that there
will still be somebody to answer your CQ call in the future."
[endquote]
** CALIF. MARINES LOG DX CONTACT ON HF
MOBILE
PAUL/ANCHOR: Almost everyone loves the thrill of a
good DX contact - and United States Marines are no different, as
we hear from Dave Parks WB8ODF.
DAVE: Hams around the
world will be happy to know that even members of the United
States Marine Corps love a good DX contact. In late January,
Marines at Base Camp Pendleton in California logged a successful
contact some 6,000 miles away with radio operators at Camp Shwab
in Okinawa, Japan. The hams in California were operating mobile
from the mountains just outside the base camp, transmitting on
HF using a field expedient antenna.
Corporal Shelton
Needham, a field radio operator, praised the antenna for the
value it brings to mobile operations. The Marines noted this was
the first such long-distance radio call in many years for
operators at Camp Pendleton and it gave them renewed confidence
in this kind of communication if other modes, such as
satellites, are attacked or otherwise taken offline.
**
MARINES CONSIDER HF FOR ALTERNATE COMBAT COMMUNICATIONS
PAUL/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, United States Marines elsewhere are
learning HF operations from the ground up. Kevin Trotman N5PRE
has that report.
KEVIN: At Camp LeJeune, North Carolina,
United States Marines are getting some basic training of a
different sort from the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club in
Greenville. The hams there are teaching the Marines the
nuts-and-bolts of high-frequency radio operations in classes
that include propagation theory, proper on-air operation
procedures, frequency band allocation and antenna theory that
covers both conventional and field-expedient antennas.
The classwork is part of a program called the High Frequency
Auxiliary Initiative, which was created by Marine Corps. Col.
Jordan Walzer, commanding officer of II MIG. The colonel is
hoping the coursework provides additional options for Marines in
a combat environment -- options that don't rely so much on
space-based capabilities which he believes are more vulnerable
to attacks from hackers and drones.
The classes, which
were held on the Marines' military base in late January, were
part of an overall ham radio licensing course. In a press
release issued by the military, Walzer called ham radio [quote]
"a reliable, low-cost alternative to satellite communications."
[endquote]
** WITH THANKS FROM WA6ITF - REMEMBERING
BILL PASTERNAK
PAUL/ANCHOR: We the members of the Amateur
Radio Newsline Amateur Radio Club, have a special message for
listeners. Speaking for all of us, here's Don Wilbanks AE5DW.
DON: The weekend of February 7th, 8th and 9th was very
special for those of us at Amateur Radio Newsline. It was 5
years ago that Newsline founder Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF became a
silent key. Not long after, the Newsline staff started kicking
around the idea of a club station.
In 2019 the Amateur
Radio Newsline Amateur Radio Club was formed and we knew that
there was only one callsign that would do. WA6ITF. As Bill’s
license was still current, it was with the help of his daughter,
Kelly Lenhert, N6PNY that we got that call.
Friday,
February 7th would have been Bill’s 78th birthday and that was
the perfect occasion to reactivate WA6ITF and get that call back
on the air where it belongs. I know I speak for the current and
former Newsline staffers who were calling CQ during our little
informal special event when I say it was a bit surreal and
emotional to be able to use that call. Collectively we made
hundreds of contacts on HF, VHF, UHF, D-Star, Allstar, DMR and
Echolink. All to honor our dear friend and mentor Bill
Pasternak.
Hearing the kind words from those who answered
our calls was gratifying and uplifting. Many of the contacts
were long time listeners or friends of Bill. Some had never
heard of Newsline. For all, it was a time to reminisce about old
times and to spread the word and continue what Bill started over
4 decades ago. We hope to make Bill’s Birthday Party an annual
event. Thank you to all who took the time to chat and help us
celebrate Bill’s life. For everyone here at Amateur Radio
Newsline, we thank you. I’m Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.
**
BAND PLAN COMMENTS DUE BY FEB. 19th
PAUL/ANCHOR: Hams in
the U.S. have only a few days left to submit comments and
suggestions to the ARRL's HF Band Planning Committee. The panel
presented its report on band allocations late last month to the
league's board. The committee told the board it favors providing
more space for the digital modes and for
automatically-controlled digital stations as the popularity of
both continues to surge. The recommendations also suggest ways
CW and digital modes can coexist. The full report, which the
panel hopes to present to the FCC, is available via "click-here"
links on the league's webpage at arrl dot org slash bandplan
(arrl.org/bandplan), where you will also find the feedback form.
The ARRL has created an online HF band plan discussion group at
groups dot arrl dot org (groups.arrl.org) Comments can be
submitted until the 19th of February.
(ARRL)
**
A NEW VOYAGE (ON LAND) FOR RECORD-SETTING YL
PAUL/ANCHOR:
Newsline has followed the solo travels of Jeanne (pronounced:
JAN) Socrates VE0JS (V-E-ZERO-J-S) before, but now the
record-setting sailor is taking another trip - by motor home.
Andrew Smelt VK5MAS has that story.
ANDREW: Solo sailor
Jeanne (pronounced "JAN") Socrates VE0JS completed a solo
unassisted circumnavigation of the world last year aboard the
Nereida, becoming the oldest person to sail around the world
alone, non-stop, and unassisted. She was 77 when she completed
the voyage in 11 months, 4 months longer than she'd expected due
to some extreme challenges. An earlier trip, in 2013, won Jeanne
the honour of being the oldest woman to make the trip -- another
record.
Boy has she got a story to tell. Jeanne has been
very giving of her time to amateur radio operators and I was one
of the lucky ones. She is now travelling around Australia for 4
months in a motor home where I'll be paying her forward and
hosting Jeanne. She'll be departing Sydney mid-February enroute
to Adelaide where she will be giving a presentation about her
voyage at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron at Outer
Harbour.
We can't wait to hear it.
** BUILDING
A RADIO COMMUNITY, ONE HUT AT A TIME
PAUL/ANCHOR: Hams in
New Zealand went outdoors recently with some low-power gear and
started off on a new adventure. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us what
happened next.
JIM M: A group of hams is hoping to build
a big community by starting with a small back-country hut.
That's the concept behind the Huts on the Air awards scheme
taking shape in New Zealand. The programme, which began earlier
this month, is still in its infancy, according to Matt Briggs
ZL4NVW, one of the organisers. The hope is to get the
backcountry buzzing with contacts, most of them operating QRP.
New Zealand has more than 950 huts managed by the Department of
Conservation. For locations to qualify in this programme, it
should be a D.O.C. or club hut or a private back-country hut
that is off the grid.
Matt said that the number of
registered users has begun to grow and he is encouraged that its
momentum will continue. Both hut activators and home-based
chasers can qualify for points. Matt said this is an ongoing
programme with no set dates for specific events. HOTA
participants should just get out there with their radios and
activate whenever the opportunity presents itself. For
additional details visit the website hota dot qrp dot nz
(hota.qrp.nz)
WORLD OF DX
In this week's world of
DX, Members of the Low Bands Contest Club based in the Czech
Republic are using the call sign 5H4WZ from Pemba Island off the
coast of Tanzania until the 18th of February. Be listening on
all bands 160 -10m on CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL using Club Log
OQRS.
Wolfgang DL5MAE will be on the air from Laos from
the 13th to the 20th of February using the call sign 3W2MAE in
his spare time. He advises hams to bear in mind that the
location has heavy local QRM. Send QSLs using the German bureau.
Be listening for special event station 8A17BJR between
February 19th and 21st. Hams in Indonesia are celebrating the
17th anniversary of the local ORARI Kota Banjar radio club.
They'll be on 80, 40 and 2 metres using CW, SSB and the Digital
modes. There are special certificates available. Visit their
page on QRZ.com.
Be listening for Charles NK8O (En Kay
Eight Oh) and Fred N8AX operating as 5H3DX and 5H3AX
respectively from Tanzania between the 24th of February and the
21st of March. Maximum power in Tanzania is 100 watts but they
will be using a variety of antennas, including some directional
verticals. Listen for them on 160-10 meters where they will be
operating holiday style. CW will be their primary mode but will
occasionally use FT8, JS8-call and PSK-31. Send QSLs direct to
NK8O (En Kay Eight Oh).
KICKER: REALLY PUTTING THE "D"
IN "DX"
PAUL/ANCHOR: Finally, is anybody out there
calling QRZ? We're talking about deep, deep, deep DX here - and
we'll let Ralph Squillace KK6ITB explain just what we mean.
RALPH: If there are extraterrestrials out there, is it
possible they have a band plan of their own? Scientists have
been receiviing mystery radio signals from beyond our earthly
environment for a long time now but a new report from British
Columbia, Canada, has detected a pattern: these are fast radio
bursts arriving precisely in 16.35-day cycles. They include 1 or
2 bursts per hour during a four-day period. Then they stop for
12 days, only to renew the pattern.
This pattern is no
trivial matter to astronomers at the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity
Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project, or CHIME/FRB. No
fast radio bursts previously recorded by scientists on Earth
have adhered to quite so steady a pattern, if they had a pattern
at all. In fact, most did not. These bursts, first detected in
2017, appear to be coming from a star-forming galaxy some 500
million lightyears from our solar system. Gamma-ray radiation
telescopes are attempting to pin down their identity further.
An imaginative ham radio operator might have other ideas.
Could this be a special event station adhering to a very strict
extraterrestrial band plan and activating only at certain hours?
A report in nature.com indicates the bursts have a central
frequency of 1.7 GHz and a bandwidth of 128 MHz. So far,
however, no hams have spotted anything on the DX Cluster. Keep
listening.
VALENTINE'S DAY: Enjoy the day,
pamper your better half. Can you imagine how much money we piss
away buying flowers, chocolates, and silly cards. I consider it
the cost of doing business, divorce is painful and expensive!
....MARLBORO, MA HAMFEST is this Saturday and is usually pretty
good as it is the first fleamarket of the year. It is a quick
one- 9am to noon...Researchers
Celebrate Pioneer's Work on World Radio Day....Ham Radio
Fans Reach Out to the World from
Labrador Lighthouse....
15-year-old fights the FAA anti-model flying NPRM with
social media
The FAA has issued an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making)
that would effectively see the end of the traditional hobby of
flying RC planes, helicopters and drones.
As well as mandating remote ID on store-bought products it
would effectively (over time) outlaw scratch-built craft as
well. This stands to have a hugely negative impact on those
STEM/STEAM programs that have in the past used drones and RC
planes as a teaching tool and a way of getting kids into
electronics, engineering, and aerospace-related subjects.
Although many older folk have tried to rally public support
for some pushback on these outrageous proposed new rules, a
15-year-old named Jack Thornton has outclassed
everyone with his four-and-a-half-minute YouTube video. Not
only does he explain what's going on but he makes a fantastic
case for the continuation of the hobby and even uses some of the
tech to create the video. I am seriously impressed by what
this guy has done!
'WEEKEND OF THE AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES'
This weekend opens the 12th Edition of the 'WEEKEND
OF THE AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES' from Friday 14 to
Sunday, February 16, 2020, with 86 light houses and beacons
of 12 COUNTRIES.
At the present time there are 86 lighthouses and beacons
from 12 countries: 28 from Argentina, 23 from Brazil, 1 from
Costa Rica, 4 from Cuba, 12 from Chile, 3 from Guatemala, 4
from Mexico, 1 from Panama, 4 from Peru, 2 are registered
from Puerto Rico, 1 from Uruguay and 3 from Venezuela.
On the cover of the RC GDXBB website
http://www.grupodxbb.com.ar on the left is the online
registration form and, on the right, the official list of
participants.
For Puerto Rico, the Amateur Radio Alliance Inc. (ARA)
will be activating Los Morrillos lighthouse in Cabo Rojo
(PUR-002). This lighthouse is located on the final 301 road,
Sector Llanos Costa. It was the second built in 1877 under
Spanish domination. It took six years to complete its
construction and was completed in 1882.
The Cabo Rojo Lighthouse is part of the Puerto Rico
maritime lighting system and on October 22, 1981 it was
included in the National Register of Historic Places of the
Department of the Interior from United States. It was
designed by Spanish engineers Manuel Maese, E. Gadea and M.
Sainz. The staircase and the lighting system were imported
from Europe. El Faro provided housing for two towers and
their respective families. It consisted of a living room,
two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. All the original
walls were built in brick and mortar. There are walls up to
44 "(inches) wide. (Tours are offered inside.).
Data of the Lighthouse and Puerto Rico: ITU Zone 11
CQ Zone 8 GS FK67jw IOTA NA-099
10-80 meters VHF and UHF Echolink KP4ARA-R
To receive your certificate please confirm in QRZ.com,
eqsl or directly to the email
kp4ara@gmail.com
Thanks and 73 s "WEEKEND OF THE AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES"
ARRL Podcasts Schedule
The second episode of ARRL’s On the Air podcast is
now available. The topics focus on building the ground plane
antenna featured in the first issue of On the Air
magazine, a discussion of open-wire feed lines, and an
interview with a relatively new public service volunteer.
New On the Air podcast episodes are available
monthly.
The first episode of the new Eclectic Tech podcast
also is now available. The first episode will include
a discussion of amateur radio activity on the Qatar-OSCAR
100 satellite, an interview with Assistant ARRL Lab Manager
Bob Allison, WB1GCM, about hand-held transceiver testing at
Dayton Hamvention and other conventions, and an interview
with Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, about propagation conditions.
ARRL Podcasts Schedule
The second episode of ARRL’s On the Air podcast is
now available. The topics focus on building the ground plane
antenna featured in the first issue of On the Air
magazine, a discussion of open-wire feed lines, and an
interview with a relatively new public service volunteer.
New On the Air podcast episodes are available
monthly.
The first episode of the new Eclectic Tech podcast
also is now available. The first episode will include
a discussion of amateur radio activity on the Qatar-OSCAR
100 satellite, an interview with Assistant ARRL Lab Manager
Bob Allison, WB1GCM, about hand-held transceiver testing at
Dayton Hamvention and other conventions, and an interview
with Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, about propagation conditions.
Amateur Radio Operating Procedures
Australia's communications regulator ACMA
has made available an Amateur Radio Operating Procedures page
This page provides easy to understand guidance on
different aspects of amateur operating, it covers: •
Emission modes and emissions • Spurious emission limits for
amateur stations • Restrictions on connection to a public
telecommunications network • Call and reply • Emergency
procedures • Operating signals • Phonetic alphabet •
Testing and monitoring
The French communications regulator ARCEP
has finally authorized the use of the 5 MHz (60m) amateur radio
band agreed by ITU at WRC-15
The formal announcement by
ARCEP regarding Decision No. 2019-1412 was published in the
Official Journal of the Republic of France (JORF) No 0037
published on February 13, 2020.
THURSDAY EDITION: I am waking up to 1
inch of snow, overcast....and I don't have to plow. Rain is
predicted and that should be the end of it all. I bought an Icom
718, new in the box which came from a silent key estate. It is a
classic entry level radio that has been around for years, it
works great and I hope to try it portable next week on a hill
overlooking the main harbor and play a little cw....Things have
been lively on 3928 late afternoons here in New England.
3919 is still hilarious at night, are these guys for real?....
NASA TV coverage of Cygnus launch to space station
Northrop
Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the
International Space Station is targeted for launch at 3:43 p.m.
EST Friday, Feb. 14.
Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 3:15
p.m., on NASA Television and the agency’s
website.
The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using
its Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on its
Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
On Feb. 9, Northrop Grumman scrubbed its Antares launch after
off-nominal readings from a ground support sensor. The Antares
rocket and Cygnus spacecraft remain healthy.
Loaded with approximately 7,500 pounds of research, crew
supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the
SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Sunday,
Feb. 16 at about 5:11 a.m.
NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan, KI5AAA will grapple
Cygnus and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will be acting as a
backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the
Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at
2:30 a.m., and installation coverage will begin at 6 a.m.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space
station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting
laboratory. The Saffire-IV experiment will be conducted within
Cygnus after it departs the station prior to deorbit. During its
deorbit, it also will dispose of several tons of trash during a
fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere May 25.
Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national
capability to deliver critical science research to the space
station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new
investigations at the only laboratory in space.
Learn more about the Northrop Grumman mission by going to the
mission webpage at:
Ham Talk Live! Episode 199 -- State of the Hobby
Survey
Thursday, February 13 at 9 pm EST, Dustin Thomas,
N8RMA will be on Ham Talk Live! to take your
questions about the 2020 State of the Hobby Survey
that will be conducted soon! Dustin and I will take
a look at the past surveys, talk about their
relevance, and some of the statistics about amateur
radio.
Website :
Thursday, February 13 at 9 pm EST, Dustin
Thomas, N8RMA will be on Ham Talk Live! to take
your questions about the 2020 State of the Hobby
Survey that will be conducted soon! Dustin and
I will take a look at the past surveys, talk
about their relevance, and some of the
statistics about amateur radio.
Tune into Ham Talk Live! Thursday night at 9 pm
EST (Friday 0200Z) by going to hamtalklive.com.
When the audio player indicates LIVE, just hit
the play button!
If you miss the show live, you can listen on
demand anytime also at hamtalklive.com; or a
podcast version is on nearly all podcast sites a
few minutes after the live show is over. Some
sites include Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google
Play, SoundCloud, and iHeart Podcasts; and it's
also available on YouTube. A replay is also
broadcast on WTWW 5085 AM on Saturday nights at
approximately 6:30 pm Eastern.
Be sure to CALL in with your questions and
comments by calling 859-982-7373 live during the
call-in segment of the show. You can also tweet
your questions before or during the show to
@HamTalkLive.
Successful 47 GHz Amateur Radio Moonbounce Test Reported
Mitsuo Kasai, JA1WQF, successfully decoded a 47 GHz
signal bounced off the moon on February 10 by Al Ward,
W5LUA. More tests are planned. Ward posted news of the
achievement on the Moon-Net email reflector. “These were
one-way tests, with only me transmitting,” he said in his
post.
“I started out by sending single tones to Mitsuo, which
he copied well, and then sent several sequences of calls and
grid. Mitsuo was able to decode calls and my grid at 1146
UTC and 1234 UTC. Signal levels were –23 dB and –25 dB.”
Ward noted that the first EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) contact on
47 GHz took place in early 2005.
“More 47 GHz tests are being run in the next few days
with Manfred, DL7YC,” Ward said. “We hope for similar
success.”
International Air Ambulance Week 2020
This
year's International Air Ambulance Week will
take place between 5th and 13th September with the focus on
supporting and generating donations for flying medical services
around the world.
The event covers two weekends, giving amateurs a great chance
to get involved and support the event.
Whilst Amateur Radio Operators / Stations are encouraged to
promote the donation causes, it is requested that any donations
generated go to the station's chosen local or national cause.
Registration will be mandatory and all stations taking part
will be issued a registration number which will be listed on
this website.
The registered number needs to be quoted by each station
regularly. Included in the list alongside each registered
station will be a clickable link enabling those wishing to
donate, to donate directly to the charity of the service they
wish to support.
The event is primarily intended to help support public
donation funded flying medical services, whether part or
entirely donation funded, though not restricted entirely to
those. The location of the special event station can be anywhere
you choose to set it up – club, home or if you can manage the
permissions to do it, a public place.
No costs will be involved in registering or taking part and a
free series of Awards will be available for those who support
the event as detailed below..
An award for having registered and taken part in the event.
A Bronze award for having logged a minimum of 5 IAW station.
A Silver award for having logged a minimum of 10 IAW station.
A Gold award for having logged a minimum of 15 IAW station.
Awards for SWL will follow the above requirements More than
one award may claimed.
Claims for the awards will need to be made to the IAW’s Award
Manager by de3ear@darc.de)
including an excerpt from the log as proof of a valid claim.
The event’s date has been set to coincide with the UK’s own
funding drive week for its own helicopter ambulance services.
Almost all of these, around 30 in number, are entirely public
donation funded.
The event is intended to commence on the fourth weekend of
September annually and is to be run by the same team which
operates the well established International Museum Event
Last weekend, British Airways Flight 112 made headlines
when it flew from New York to London in less than 5 hours,
smashing the speed record for subsonic flight. It did it by
surfing the jet stream.
The plane's early arrival had an unintended benefit:
Passengers absorbed significantly fewer cosmic rays. Surfing
the jet stream, it turns out, is a good way to manage
aviation radiation.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: A nice sunny
start to the day this morning, Valentine's Day is creeping up.
TIP: This is a great time to smother your better half with a
nice meal, candy, and a nice gift and a perfect time to buy
yourself a new radio under the radar!...I heard quitre a few
nice comments regarding the passing of John- K1BXI on 75 meters
yesterday, RIP John....Strange Russian Spacecraft Shadowing U.S.
Spy Satellite,
General Says ......
ARRL Creates New HF Band Planning Discussion Group
ARRL has created a new
HF Band Planning Discussion Group. HF
Band Planning Committee Chair Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, will
moderate the group, which will focus on the ARRL HF Band
Planning Committee’s recommendations and other band-planning
activities. Earlier this month, the ARRL HF Band Planning
Committee
invited comments and suggestions from the
Amateur Radio community on its
reportto the ARRL Board. At the Board’s
January meeting, the committee presented its
specific recommendations in graphical
form for each HF band and each US license class, with the
goal of increasing harmony on the HF bands, particularly
between CW and digital users. Those responding to the
initial call for comments and suggestions are encouraged to
cross-post their remarks to the new HF Band Planning
Discussion Group.
CubeSats Set for Deployment from the ISS
Several CubeSats are scheduled to be deployed from
the ISS on February 12, including Phoenix, a 3U CubeSat
developed by Arizona State University (ASU) to study the
effects of urban heat islands through remote infrared
sensing. The ASU operations team would appreciate help
from the amateur satellite community with identifying
the spacecraft and verifying that it is operational
following its deployment at 0830 UTC.
Two CubeSats being deployed on February 12 — Phoenix
and QARMAN — share the frequency of 437.35 MHz and
utilize an AX.25 9,600-baud protocol with GMSK
modulation. Because both CubeSats will be deployed
within an hour and a half of each other, they will be
close to each other in orbit.
More information is available on
the Phoenix website. — Thanks to Phoenix Project
Manager Sarah Rogers, KI7OOY
Not an everyday find: German Archaeologists came across
a Russian spy radio
Not an everyday find: Archaeologists from the Rhineland
Regional Council were amazed when they came across a Russian
spy radio instead of Roman traces in the Hambach open-cast
mine during excavations. Hidden in a large metal box.
"When the box was opened, it hissed," Dr. Erich Claßen,
head of the LVR Office for the Preservation of
Archaeological Monuments in the Rhineland, told journalists.
In the container: a Soviet radio type R-394KM, code name
Strizh, a digital HF spy radio.
It was developed in the early 1980s in the Soviet Union
(USSR) and used by the countries of the Warsaw Pact in the
final phase of the Cold War. It was the last model before
the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1992.
Photo: Jürgen Vogel /
LandesMuseum Bonn
The device has a digital news system and a digital
frequency display. It was used by agents abroad as well as
by special units and was available with Russian or English
text on the front. The spy version is known by the Russian
code name "Strizh" (English: Swift).
In the LVR-Landesmuseum in Bonn there is currently not
only the mysterious radio to see. Under the title "Gods,
Graves and Agents", spectacular finds from the year 2019 are
on display until 29 March:
TUESDAY EDITION: I have been
informed by Cal that our longtime friend John- K1BXI has passed
away. I talked to him on 75 meters not long ago, always pleasant
and knowledgeable and willing to help out another ham. I always
enjoyed talking and learning from John....especially about
Linux, homebrewing, and his wealth of ham experiences. RIP John
from all of us...
Email:It is with Great
sadness that I report the passing of John Phillips K1BXI at home
on Saturday.
He will surely be missed by all.
As
was his wish and that of his wife Lee there will be no memorial
service or funeral. He is to be cremated.
Per Lee and
Holly's request it would be appreciated if we gave them this
time to grieve privately.
Cal...W1HHO
ARRL Board of Directors Re-Elects President Rick Roderick,
K5UR
Meeting January 17 – 18 in Windsor, Connecticut, the ARRL
Board of Directors re-elected ARRL President Rick Roderick,
K5UR, to a third 2-year term. Roderick outpolled the only
other nominee, Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra,
K6JAT, 8 – 7. New England Division Vice Director Mike
Raisbeck, K1TWF, was elected First Vice President,
succeeding Greg Widin, K0GW, who did not seek another term.
Raisbeck was the sole nominee. A successor will be appointed
to fill the Vice Director seat that Raisbeck has vacated.
Bob Vallio, W6RGG, was re-elected as Second Vice President
as the only nominee.
On a 9 – 6 vote, the Board voted not to re-elect Howard
Michel, WB2ITX, as Chief Executive Officer. Michel was in
the post for 15 months. Former ARRL Chief Financial Officer
and Chief Executive Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY, has come
out of retirement to serve as interim ARRL CEO. He also was
elected as Secretary. Shelley was ARRL’s CFO for 28 years
and served as CEO during 2018 before his retirement,
following the departure of former CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF.
The ARRL Board has appointed a committee to spearhead the
search for a new CEO. That panel will screen suitable CEO
candidates, presenting three to the Board for
consideration.
Former ARRL President and IARU Secretary Rod Stafford,
W6ROD, was elected International Affairs Vice President,
succeeding Jay Bellows, K0QB, who did not seek another term.
Also re-elected by the Board were Treasurer Rick Niswander,
K7GM, and Chief Financial Officer Diane Middleton, W2DLM.
Elected as members of the Executive Committee were
Atlantic Division Director Tom Abernethy, W3TOM; Central
Division Director Kermit Carlson, W9XA; Roanoke Division
Director Bud Hippisley, W2RU; New England Division Director
Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and Great Lakes Division Director
Dale Williams, WA8EFK. The Executive Committee addresses and
makes decisions regarding ARRL business that may arise
between scheduled Board meetings.
Hudson Division Director Ria Jairam, N2RJ, was elected as
a member of the ARRL Foundation Board for a 3-year term. Tim
Duffy, K3LR, and Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF, were elected to the
Foundation Board for 3-year terms as non-ARRL Board members.
Relief from Private Land-Use Restrictions
The Ad Hoc Legislative Advocacy Committee provided the
Board with drafts outlining three legislative approaches to
address relief for radio amateurs facing private land-use
restrictions impacting outdoor antennas. The Board signed
off on the draft legislative approaches “as presented and
possibly modified” and directed the committee “to proceed to
obtain congressional sponsorship, employing any of these
three approaches and using its best judgment on any
alterations or modifications that our advisors or sponsors
may require or suggest.”
HF Band Planning
Outgoing chair of the HF Band Planning Committee Greg
Widin, K0GW, presented the panel’s report and entertained
questions. Board members noted that staff turnover and
funding limitations at the FCC might impact ARRL’s efforts
to tweak the bands. The Board agreed that ARRL would post
the report and
solicit comments from members on it.
Contests and Operating Awards
The Board approved raising the maximum number of contacts
a Field Day GOTA station can make to 1,000. It amended the
ARRL RTTY Roundup rules to add Multi-Two and Multi-Multi
categories and to permit multioperator stations to operate
for the entire contest period, and it divided entry
categories into RTTY only, Digital only (i.e., no RTTY), and
Mixed (both RTTY and digital).
Matt Holden, K0BBC, presented the DX Advisory Committee
report, telling the Board that the panel engaged in
extensive discussion on a proposal to change the 5-Band DXCC
award from the current required bands to offer credit for
any five bands. The committee unanimously rejected the
proposal.
ARRL Elections
The Board revised rules governing ARRL Division and
Section Manager elections to clarify some terminology, to
extend the campaign period from the call for nominations to
the deadline for ballots received, and to make other
miscellaneous changes. Revisions will become effective by
February 15, 2020.
In the interest of “openness and fairness,” the Board
also approved a measure that would offers candidates and
members an opportunity to be present during the counting of
ballots. Candidates also may designate one ARRL member to
attend as a surrogate if they’re unable to observe ballot
counting, or to accompany them at the count. The Board
further approved an amendment to permit ARRL members, upon
petition, to travel at their own expense to witness the
counting of ballots from their Division.
The Board charged the Programs and Services Committee to
consider changes to the ARRL By-Laws that would give
members, upon petition, the opportunity to attend the public
portion of the Annual Meeting in January. The number of
members permitted to attend would be subject to available
space and fire code regulations.
Public Service Enhancement Working Group Chair, Roanoke
Division Director Bud Hippisley, W2RU, reported that with
field adoption of the 2019 ARES Plan now under way,
the group is putting increased focus on the National Traffic
System, including plans for dialog with representatives of
Radio Relay International.
Reduced Dues for Younger Applicants
The Board approved an amendment giving the CEO discretion
to raise the eligibility age for reduced full ARRL
membership dues from 22 to 26, provided the rate not be less
than one-half of the established rate. In addition, the
Board approved the establishment of a reduced-rate,
revenue-neutral Life Membership for individuals age 70 or
older, with cumulative annual membership of 25 years or
more, at an initial rate of $750. Headquarters staff will
work out the administrative details of the program, subject
to approval of the Administration and Finance Committee.
The Board also agreed to allow for a “digital-only”
access membership, at the discretion of the CEO, discounted
no more than 10% from the established dues rate.
Other Business
In other business, the Board:
approved a grant of $500 to the Youth on the Air
(YOTA) in the Americas program, which is sponsoring a
camp in June for young radio amateurs. Neil Rapp,
WB9VPG, a former ARRL Youth Coordinator, is heading the
initiative, which is funded through the non-profit
Electronic Applications Radio Service Inc.
authorized creation of an Emergency Management
Director Selection Committee, with its chair and members
to be named by the president.
French look at 3-Tier CEPT ham radio structure and use of
surrender flag if you flunk the test
One of the French national amateur radio societies
URC has expressed its desire for a 3 licence class
structure as described in CEPT recommendations rather the the
single class available at the present time
A translation
of the Union of Radio Clubs (URC) 2020 Editorial reads:
The URC has its objectives among which that of respecting the
CEPT recommendations and of creating 3 license classes in
France. We have made proposals on how we see how we can do it,
this part is to be discussed with all the associations and the
administration but the consensus is that licenses and exams must
be changed in France. So I have a lot of hope in this consortium
that is GIAR.
I hope that all the associations which
want to advance radio amateurism, we will join, that they will
clearly display their membership of the GIAR consortium and that
the page of the past will be definitively turned.
Once the GIAR consortium has been formed, we will set up the
thematic groups that we have identified and we will all work
together:
• Community facilities (Relays - Beacons - Networks). this
group will have to establish how community facilities can be
managed in partnership with the ANFR. We note that the ANFR
manages the frequencies, it does nothing more than simply check
whether the installation transmits in the amateur radio bands.
We, as a radio amateur, need more details because we are masters
of what is going on inside our bands. We will have to establish
rules for the coexistence of community facilities which will
then have to be applied in collaboration with the ANFR.
• Training and exams: within the framework of the establishment
of 3 license classes, this group will have to work on training,
how to integrate this training in individual training, in
national education and how can we reform the passage of exams.
• French regulations: since 2012 the decree has had
problems and shells, we have been promised reform of the decree
for 8 years, let's work on the subject and give radio amateurs
the means to develop by correcting and developing the decree.
• Communication and promotion, by contributing to the
reform of examinations, the evolution of our rights, let us
persevere and enlarge the family of radio amateurs. Let us join
forces to promote our activity.
If your national
association wants to join the GIAR consortium, you can contact
us, if people belonging or not to a national association wish to
reinforce the technical groups, that they also contact us,
together apart from all past controversies, make things happen.
Bletchley Park: Build a Radio Receiver
Bletchley Park is hosting another workshop with the RSGB on
March 14 where you can build your own radio receiver
The
Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) invites
young people (and an accompanying adult if the child is under 16
years) to join them at the National Radio Centre at Bletchley
Park for a fun and hands-on workshop where they can learn more
about radio and electronics.
The workshop offers a short
introduction to wireless communications, radio propagation and
electronic construction, before moving on to the construction of
a medium wave radio receiver. This will include using a printed
circuit board, selecting components, soldering them in place and
testing the circuit. Attendees will also be able to visit the
National Radio Centre to learn more about the history of radio
communications and to see a modern amateur radio station in
operation.
The Leicester Mercury reports on the top secret wartime
listening station role of a Leicestershire mansion
As we
approach the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May, a Loughborough
Library Local Studies Volunteer (LLLSV) tells the fascinating
story of Beaumanor Hall’s crucial role in the Second World War.
Many readers may not know, but Beaumanor Hall
was the site of a vital wartime intelligence service, namely the
War Office “Y” (wireless) Group or W.O.Y.G.
The top
secret “Y” Group was part of M18 Wireless Intelligence and
Beaumanor was a highly-strategic “Intercept Station”, concerned
with monitoring the enemy’s main channels of wireless traffic
and communications.
The “Y” Intercept Listening Service
operated from 1941 to 1945 and its wartime activities were as
top secret as those at the Code and Cypher School at Bletchley
Park.
Radio Caroline North returns to our radio ship Ross
Revenge for the second live broadcast of 2020.
Join us on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th February for all the
best music from the 60s – early 90s, plus the chance to win a
subscription to The Beat magazine.
We're LIVE from the River Blackwater from 10.30 am on
Saturday. Listen in on 648 AM in the South and South-East, on
1368 AM in the North and North-West courtesy of our friends at
Manx Radio, around the world online via the Radio Caroline app
and Radio Player, and on smart speakers.
We'd love to hear from you – email us during the broadcast
at
memories@radiocaroline.co.uk and remember, it's the only
address that gets you straight through to us directly onboard.
MONDAY EDITION: ..Fricken wind
again, 50 mph gusts, sometimes being surrounded by the ocean
isn't fun.....Marines
and ham radio.....Where the hell are we headed? A degree in
smoking dope.....So you want to
work for Amazon?....
M1CJE - SOTA Mountain Goat
Congratulations to Andrew
Eastland, M1CJE, who has achieved the accolade of
SOTA Mountain Goat.
This is the principal award in the Summits on the Air scheme,
and marks passing through 1000 activator points.
Andrew (pictured on the right of the photo), who is based in
Marlborough, Wiltshire, reached his MG status with an activation
of Black Mountain GW/SW-041 in January 2020.
He started his SOTA journey on Pen y Fan GW/SW-001 in
September 2017, and so has reached Mountain Goat status in less
than two-and-a-half years, which is relatively rapid!
For more information about activating, chasing or SWLing in
the SOTA programme, please visit
http://www.sota.org.uk
Ham College 61 - Extra Class Begins
Are you ready for Amateur Extra? Our 1st Extra Class
episode.
What's on the exam?
Solar Orbiter launch takes solar science to new heights
Solar
Orbiter, a new collaborative mission between ESA
(European Space Agency) and NASA to study the Sun, launched
at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V
rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida.
At 12:24 a.m. Monday, mission controllers at the European
Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, received a
signal from the spacecraft indicating that its solar panels
had successfully deployed.
In the first two days after launch, Solar Orbiter will
deploy its instrument boom and several antennas that will
communicate with Earth and gather scientific data.
Solar Orbiter is on a unique trajectory that will allow
its comprehensive set of instruments to provide humanity
with the first-ever images of the Sun's poles. This
trajectory includes 22 close approaches to the Sun, bringing
the spacecraft within the orbit of Mercury to study the Sun
and its influence on space.
“As humans, we have always been familiar with the
importance of the Sun to life on Earth, observing it and
investigating how it works in detail, but we have also long
known it has the potential to disrupt everyday life should
we be in the firing line of a powerful solar storm,” said
Günther Hasinger, ESA director of Science. “By the end of
our Solar Orbiter mission, we will know more about the
hidden force responsible for the Sun’s changing behavior and
its influence on our home p
A previous ESA-NASA mission, Ulysses, launched in 1990,
achieved an inclined orbit giving scientists their first
measurements of the space around the Sun in this critical
region. Unlike Ulysses, So
lanet than ever before."
Solar Orbiter will spend about three months in its
commissioning phase, during which the mission team will run
checks on the spacecraft's
10 scientific instruments to ensure they are working
properly. It will take Solar Orbiter about two years to
reach its primary science orbit.
Solar Orbiter combines two main modes of study. In-situ
instruments will measure the environment around the
spacecraft, detecting such things as electric and magnetic
fields and passing particles and waves. The remote-sensing
instruments will image the Sun from afar, along with its
atmosphere and its outflow of material, collecting data that
will help scientists understand the Sun's inner workings.
During the mission's cruise phase, which lasts until
November 2021, the spacecraft's in-situ instruments will
gather scientific data about the environment around the
spacecraft, while the remote-sensing telescopes will focus
on calibration to prepare for science operations near the
Sun. The cruise phase includes three gravity assists that
Solar Orbiter will use to draw its orbit closer to the Sun:
two past Venus in December 2020 and August 2021, and one
past Earth in November 2021.
Following its Earth gravity assist, Solar Orbiter will
begin the primary phase of its mission – leading up to its
first close pass by the Sun in 2022 – at about a third the
distance from the Sun to Earth. Throughout its mission,
Solar Orbiter will use successive Venus gravity assists to
draw its orbit closer to the Sun and lift it out of the
ecliptic plane.
Solar Orbiter’s unique orbit will bring the spacecraft
out of the plane that roughly aligns with the Sun's equator
where Earth and the other planets orbit. Spacecraft launched
from Earth naturally stay in this plane, which means that
telescopes on Earth and telescopes on satellites have
limited views of the Sun's north and south poles.
lar Orbiter carries cameras that will provide the
first-ever images of the Sun's poles. This vital information
will help scientists fill in the gaps in models of the Sun's
magnetic field, which drives the Sun's activity.
"Solar Orbiter is going to do amazing things. Combined
with the other recently launched NASA missions to study the
Sun, we are gaining unprecedented new knowledge about our
star," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator
for Science at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.
“Together with our European partners, we’re entering a new
era of heliophysics that will transform the study of the Sun
and help make astronauts safer as they travel on Artemis
program missions to the Moon."
ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre in
the Netherlands manages the development effort. The European
Space Operations Center in Germany will operate Solar
Orbiter after launch. Solar Orbiter was built by Airbus
Defense and Space. The spacecraft contains 10 instruments.
Nine were provided by ESA member states and ESA. NASA
provided one instrument, the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric
Imager (SoloHI), and an additional sensor, the Heavy Ion
Sensor, which is part of the Solar Wind Analyzer instrument
suite.
Solar Orbiter complements a fleet of NASA Heliophysics
spacecraft observing the star we live with and its effects
on the space we travel through.
Members of the Cairns Amateur Radio Club (Cairns, Far North
Queensland) will activate the special event call-sign
VI250COOK between May 1st
and August 31st.
Activity is to commemorate the 250th anniversary of
Captain James Cook sailing
up the east coast of Australia from what is now Sydney to what
is now Cooktown in Far North Queensland. This historic trip is
being replicated by the Australian Maritime Museum's replica of
his ship, the Endeavour (https://www.sea.museum/)
(https://www.sea.museum/whats-on/events/sail-the-endeavour).
They will be sharing availability of this distinctive
callsign with various other Australian amateur radio clubs as
the Endeavour calls into their cities or passes by on its
voyage, culminating with the Cairns Amateur Radio Club operating
from both Cairns and Cooktown.
For more details and a published on-air schedule (once
confirmed), see QRZ.com.
St. Pierre and Miquelon
Operators Chris/VO1IDX (Co-Teamleader), Jim/WB2REM
(Co-Teamleader), Chris/VO1CH (TO5T-License Holder), Mike/W0VTT,
Woody/WW1WW and Steve/W4SJT will be active as
TO5T from the island of Ile
Aux Marins (NA-032) between August 10-17th.
Activity will be on 160-6 meters (including 60m) using CW,
SSB and FT8 (F/H).
Suggested frequencies are available on QRZ.com or via their
Web page at:
http://www.to5t.com
QSL via WB2REM, direct, ClubLog's OQRS (direct or by the
Bureau) or LoTW.
Indonesian special event
Look for special event station
8A17BJR between February 19-21st. Activity is to
celebrate the 17th anniversary of the local ORARI Kota Banjar
radio club.
Once
again St Patricks Day is nearly upon us. We
are asking all amateurs to join in on the air and help turn the
bands green for the St Patrick Day Award.
This annual award runs over 48hrs from 12noon, 16th March.
till 12noon on the 18th March.
Stations worldwide will be on air for the celebrations and we
hope that you can sit back, relax and help turn those bands
green for St Patrick's Day.
So why not join us and go green for the 17th March
WEEKEND EDITION: Sunny and cold. another night
of 70 mph gusts here on the rock....Listen to the new episode of
ARRL Audio News on your iOS or Android podcast app, or online at
http://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/. Audio News is also
retransmitted on a number of FM repeaters. Click
here and then
scroll down to see the list......Whose
brilliant idea was it to pull the radios out of the
Titanic grave site?....Facial
bias in action......We are heading to a
cashless society....The
freaking dumbing down of USA,
kids can't parallel park so the drop they requiment. Kind of
like us dropping the swimming requiment for police and fireman
because minorities could not swim in MA...
Foundations of Amateur Radio
How
I care for my connectors
If you've ever found yourself in the position of
attempting to screw a PL259 into an SO239, or an N-type plug
into an N-type socket you'll have likely come across the
situation where the thread doesn't quite fit. If it does,
you might have issues attempting to undo the connection,
even if you didn't particularly do anything strenuous in
relation to mating the two in the first place.
This kind of situation happens to me more than I think is
reasonable. It happens on cheap connectors, on expensive
ones, on the back of radio gear, on adaptors, patch leads
and the like.
Initially I put this down to cheap vs. expensive, but
that really doesn't add up if you're attempting to connect
an expensive plug into an expensive radio.
If you're into machining you'll know about swarf. If not,
think metallic dust. Of course it doesn't have to be
metallic, it could be a single grain of sand, or it could be
a slightly damaged thread.
A couple of months ago I went on the hunt for a tap and
die set that would solve this issue once and for all. If
you're not familiar with the terms, a tap is like a long
bolt with a square head and a die is like a thick washer
with holes cut out.
In addition to being hardened, they each have cutting
edges, which allows these two tools to do their job, the job
of cutting threads.
Normally you'd use a tap to make a thread into a hole
that you've drilled. You'd use a die to make a thread onto a
rod that you have. There's lots of technique associated with
this, cutting fluids, alignment, pressure and the like.
Plenty of relaxing YouTube videos around - which is how I
came upon this idea in the first place.
You can also use a tap or a die to cut across an existing
thread and you can do this with connectors.
A die, threaded over a socket, will clean up the socket
threads. Similarly a tap screwed into a plug will clean up
the plug thread. There's a disclaimer coming for that last
point, but stick around.
Trying to find a tap and die to match can be a challenge.
The PL259, SO239 and N-type connectors are all 5/8th size
threads. They're 24 turns per inch, and also known as UNEF
(Uniform November Echo Foxtrot) threads, or Unified Extra
Fine.
So if you start on your hunt, you'll be looking for
5/8th, 24 TPI, UNEF taps and dies.
I found mine online at $15 or so from a US supplier. Got
to me in about a week.
When they arrived I immediately set about cleaning up all
my sockets. This was amazing, all of a sudden stuff started
fitting well. Unfortunately I couldn't use the tap. The
centre hole in a standard tap isn't big enough for the pin
of a PL259, let alone an N-type connector, but a friend of a
friend has access to machine tools and made the centre hole
bigger. Word of warning, this is hardened steel. A
hand-drill won't cut it.
I must mention that this won't allow you to use the tap
inside an N-type plug, but you can use a die on the socket.
I'll also point out that if you need to use a tap wrench
or a die holder, you're doing it wrong. We're cleaning up
the thread, not making a new one. If you need extra force
the most likely scenario is that you've cross threaded the
tool onto the connector.
Of course if you've got a completely stuffed connector
thread, then these tools can help, but you might want to
consider replacing the connector.
My tap and die live in my go-kit right next to the coax
adaptors. On my next field-day I won't be having to deal
with poor connections, nor will I have to worry about
unscrewing them after the event.
A tap and die, great simple tools to fix a recurring
issue.
I'm
Onno VK6FLAB
The Galileo GNSS constellation and 1296 EME operation
Bob Atkins KA1GT has
documented his recent observations of interference to 1296 EME
from the Galileo navigation satellites' E6 mode
Bob writes:
"Over a number of months I noticed times when I saw a rise
and fall in background noise over periods of 10-20 minutes. The
noise level might go up by as much as 3dB. At first I assumed
that it was just antenna sidelobes picking up some local
broadband noise source, or pointing at trees or other structures
and I was seeing ambient temperature thermal noise. However, if
I noted the AZ and EL of the antennas when I saw the noise and
went back later to look for the noise, it was gone."
"After thinking about this for a while, asking questions on
Moon-net and doing some tracking of the noise signal, it
gradually became apparent that the noise source was space based
and wasn't cosmic. It appeared to be due to a satellite (or
satellites) in relatively high orbit. The time for the noise to
rise and fall (10-20 minutes) couldn't be from an LEO (Low Earth
orbit) satellite, nor could it be from a geostationary
satellite. Its motion was consistent with something in an orbit
about 25000km high. That's an MEO and the sort of orbit GPS
satellites use. Galileo navigation satellites use are also in
MEO (medium earth orbit)."
Home Town Focus interviews
Roger Kochevar K0HGN about his hobby of the past 63
years - Amateur Radio
It seems like only yesterday when
I went to the mailbox on that sunny October day in 1956 and
found a letter addressed to me from the Federal Communications
Commission. Could it be the long-awaited amateur radio license?
Yes, it was the license with call letters KNØHGN printed at the
top!
The license allowed me, an eighth-grader, to operate a
station to communicate by transmitting radio waves under FCC
amateur rules. It was a ticket to a fascinating hobby based on
the use of radio spectrum by private ham operators.
Over 63 years have passed, and I still enjoy the hobby as
much as ever. By the numbers, ham radio is still popular. In
1956, there were about 140,000 hams in the United States; now
there are 763,000.
What motivated young kids in 1956 to
learn Morse code, radio theory, and set up a ham radio station?
Many of us were fascinated with the radio waves that we could
generate with simple apparatus, often built from parts salvaged
from old radios. Magical electromagnetic waves emitted from our
antennas traveled at the speed of light and could achieve great
distances by skipping through the atmosphere. The waves allowed
us to communicate with someone in a neighboring town or, if skip
conditions were right, someone on the other side of the world,
such as New Zealand!
New England Hams
you might run across 75
meters.........
K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns.... KB1OWO-
Larry...Handsome Fellow
,Only cuts lawn in August, plows
snow the rest in Jackman, Maine W1GEK-
Big Mike....Nearfest Cook, big
motor home, electronics software
engineer ... AA1SB-
Neil...Living large traveling
the country with his
girlfriend...loves CW N1YX-
Igor....peddles quality Russian
keys, software engineer K1BGH...Art.....Restores
cars and radio gear, nice fella... N1XW.....Mike-easy
going, Harley riding kind of
guy!
K1JEK-Joe...Easy going, can
be found at most ham flea market
...Cobra Antenna builder.. KA1GJU-
Kriss- Tower climbing pilot who
cooks on the side at
Hosstrader's... W1GWU-Bob....one
of the Hosstrader's original
organizers, 75 meter regular,
Tech Wizard!!! K1PV-
Roger....75 meter regular, easy
going guy... W1XER...Scott....easy
going guy, loves to split
cordwood and hunt... WS1D-
Warren- "Windy" - Bullnet KB1VX-
Barry- the picture says it all,
he loves food! KC1BBU-
Bob....the Mud Duck from the
Cape Cod Canal, making a lot of
noise.
W1STS- Scott...philosopher,
hat connoisseur,
KB1JXU-
Matthew...75 meter regular...our
token liberal Democrat out of VT KA1BXB-Don....75
meter Regular......residing on
the Cape of Cod, flying planes
and playing radio KMIG-Rick....75
Meter Regular....teaches the
future of mankind, it's scary! K1PEK-Steve..Founder
of Davis-RF....my best friend
from high school K9AEN-John...Easy
going ham found at all the ham
fests K1BQT.....Rick....very
talented ham, loves his
politics, has designed gear for
MFJ...
W1KQ- Jim- Retired
Air Force
Controller...told quite a few
pilots where to go! N1OOL-Jeff-
The 3936 master plumber and
ragchewer... K1BRS-Bruce-
Computer Tech of 3936...multi
talented kidney stone passing
ham...
K1BGH- Arthur, Cape Cod,
construction company/ice cream
shop, hard working man.... W1VAK-
Ed, Cape Cod, lots of experience
in all areas, once was a Jacques
Cousteus body guard.... K1BNH-
Bill- Used to work for a bottled
gas company-we think he has been
around nitrous oxide to long .
Silent Key
K1BXI- John.........Dr.
Linux....fine amateur radio op
....wealth of experience... Silent KeyVA2GJB-
Graham...one of the good 14313
guys back in the day.
Silent KeyK1BHV-
David...PITA
Silent Key
W1JSH-
Mort...Air Force man
Silent KeyK1MAN--Glen....PITA
Silent KeyKB1CJG-"Cobby"-
Low key gent can be found on
many of the 75 meter
nets.........
Silent KeyWB1AAZ-
Mike, Antrim, NH, auto parts
truck driver-retired
Silent KeyWB1DVD-
Gil....Gilly..Gilmore.....easy
going, computer parts selling,
New England Ham..
Silent Key W1OKQ-
Jack....3936 Wheeling and
Dealing......keeping the boys on
there toes....
Silent KeyW1TCS-
Terry....75 meter
regular, wealth of electronic
knowledge...
Silent Key
WIPNR-
Mack....DXCC Master, worked them
all!.. 3864 regular for many
years...
Silent Key
WILIM-
Hu....SK at 92... 3864
regular for many years...
Silent Key N1SIE-
Dave....Loves to fly
Silent Key:N1WBD-
Big Bob- Tallest ham, at 6'10",
of the 3864 group
Silent Key:W1FSK-Steve....Navy
Pilot, HRO Salesman, has owned
every radio ever built!
Silent Key:W4NTI-Vietnam
Dan....far from easy going cw
and ssb op on 14275/313
Silent Key:K1FUB-Bill-
Loved ham radio....
The
1st YOTA event in IARU Region 3
(Asia/Pacific) will take place in Rayong, Thailand on
October 1-3, 2020 
Northrop
Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the
International Space Station is targeted for launch at 3:43 p.m.
EST Friday, Feb. 14. 
This
year's International Air Ambulance Week will
take place between 5th and 13th September with the focus on
supporting and generating donations for flying medical services
around the world.
Photo: Jürgen Vogel /
LandesMuseum Bonn 
Solar
Orbiter, a new collaborative mission between ESA
(European Space Agency) and NASA to study the Sun, launched
at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V
rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida. 
Once
again St Patricks Day is nearly upon us. 
